Unlike teddy bears, Disney movies and water wings, the wonder of space exploration is something that’s hard to outgrow. The sense of adventure and mystery it instills doesn’t have an age limit, but it’s a fantasy that’s easy to forget in the quagmire of government funding and scaled-down expectations.

That’s why photographer Vincent Fournier’sSpace Project is so fun to look at. He’s traveled to many of the world’s most important space centers, from Florida to French Guiana, photographing whatever piques his imagination. His photos are about letting his eyes run wild and allowing his gut do the thinking instead of his head.

“I’ve tried to create a poetic way of looking at [the technology surrounding space],” he says.

Born in Burkina Faso, Africa, Fournier grew up and was educated in France and currently lives in Paris. He says his work is inspired by movies such as Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris. Like 2001: A Space Odyssey, his photos also find a way to tap into the culture surrounding space. They aren’t an anthropological record, but instead a reflection of our collective obsession with what lies beyond.

“Photography is about seeing and then choosing. What you want to show and what you don’t want to show. It can be summarized as choices,” Fournier told Vice in a recent profile.

Space Project is not the first time Fournier has ventured into the emotional side of technology. His photo series, The Man Machine, depicts humanoid robots in everyday situations–like sitting in a waiting room or walking down the street–juxtaposed with regular people. It’s an odd, wistful take on a seemingly inevitable future where autonomous machines live among us.

His photos tend to mirror their subjects. In Space Project for example, Fournier is intrigued with the way our space technology gathers a lot of data, but falls short of definitive answers. His photos are similar in that they transport viewers to exotic locations but they also leave a certain nagging curiosity.

Fournier has established a clear, aesthetic theme that pulls narrative gems from the chaos and clutter of the space industry. The photos are not documentary (if he has to, he stages the shots), but they get at a less information-driven, and more visceral, truth.

Disclosure: Fournier recently shot the Computer Electronics Show for Wired.